What is Heritage?

Ian Baxter

Royal Crescent, Bath: ‘heritage’ or ‘the historic environment’?

Asking an academic to answer
the question ‘What is heritage?’ is
risky, not least because of the likely
academic interests or prejudices of the
writer. There is also the danger that the
response renders heritage in the abstract
rather than in terms of the everyday objects,
buildings and places which make up the
experience of heritage for most people in
modern society. An effort will therefore be
made here to focus on heritage in the real
world, and to explore the many facets of what
might be termed a ‘problematic’ concept.

We cannot ignore the fact that most of
our inherited associations with the past,
which we may collectively term heritage,
arise from very personal connections,
actions, ideas and empathy with a spirit of
place. The intangible psychologies of heritage
and our tangible management of the built
environment are therefore inextricably linked.

Although in common parlance ‘heritage’
is often used when referring to particular
examples of the built historic environment
or culturally-influenced landscapes, the term
‘historic environment’ has failed to gain
traction in the media or with the man on the
Clapham omnibus. Essentially, this is because
the term fails to express the fundamental link
to the human and personal histories bound
up in our physical fabric of places. ‘Heritage’,
on the other hand, resonates with people
both as a label and as a concept. Indeed,
even buildings which are now considered
architecturally dull or unfashionable can
often be recognised for their role in a
location’s fabric as heritage and for having had
historical resonance within the community
in the past. Thus the concept encompasses far
more than just those physical features which
might be identified, accorded significance,
and ‘managed’ as the historic environment in
any professional sense.

The physical fabric of heritage is very
much the hard-wiring which links a location
with the people who have lived there, be they
individuals, families, or groups of people who
hail from or who have congregated there,
and who have thereby influenced the form
and features that the built environment now
includes. A typical example of this is the
iconic British country house, as celebrated
in historical fiction and period dramas such
as Downton Abbey. A particular family line
may have a very distinct effect not only on a
society’s cultural and historical development
but also very directly in a physical sense
through the construction of houses, farms
and churches, and through the management
of landscapes. Such influential families can
also exercise a wider influence by promoting
a favoured architectural style or approach
to urban form and planning, or through
expressions of philanthropy.

Crofton Park Library in London is one of around
2,500 Carnegie Libraries worldwide. Earmarked for
closure in May 2011 by Lewisham Council, the library
was saved by the local community with private sector
assistance.
(Photo: William Badenhorst)

Beyond the core of the immediate
environs at the ‘family house’, the styles and
designs representing unique heritage-scapes
can be found up and down the country
providing distinct community identities.
For example, one of the most widespread
legacies to have affected the physical and
cultural heritage of the UK and elsewhere
was the building of libraries endowed by
Andrew Carnegie. Between 1883 and 1929
a total of 2,509 libraries were built with the
aid of the Scottish-American businessman’s
donations to towns mainly in the UK, the
United States, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
While individual building styles were chosen
by the communities in which they were built,
a number of styles and forms dominated
through the influence of Carnegie’s staff.

At the other end of the scale,
immigration and cultural changes have
transformed the character of whole
neighbourhoods. In many industrial towns
and cities terraces constructed to house
local workers are often found to have
been reconfigured socially and culturally
as their new communities dynamically
manage the physical environment, making
their own mark on it and contributing
to the heritage story of a place.

Heritage and the dynamics of change
within the physical environment are at the
heart of what we can call ‘place identity’.
Such identities are often described with
reference to preconceived notions of what
the type of settlement should look like, be it
in rural England or the Scottish highlands,
a farmstead or a mill complex. However,
effective heritage management requires
a more thorough understanding of the
structure, form and landscape of the place.
Heritage management goes hand in hand
with the study and understanding of urban
and rural historic development, form and
landscape and the development of research
methodologies to explore, understand and
explain the character, significance and value
of heritage assets and landscapes has grown
in sophistication over the last two decades
in particular. A place identity will, and
should never, be static as a successful ‘living’
community and built environment is one
which can adapt and change – heritage can
therefore be thought of in terms of resilience:
a glue which gives historical sense to the
fabric of a place.

Individual elements and actions create
the wider public landscape. It is therefore
not surprising that the notion of ‘tapestry’
is often used when looking at the range of
elements from different time periods, of
different style and design, which make up the
neighbourhood in which we live, and which
are key to the concept of ‘character’ that
people desire of the place they live.

The linkages of people to places, and the
forms of expression which surround us in the
built and natural environment influence our
behaviour consciously and subconsciously,
and the psychologies of heritage bring about
an intrinsic need and desire to understand,
look after and enjoy it.

THE HERITAGE MOVEMENT

Stanley Mills, Perthshire: part of the listed mill complex was converted into residential units in 1997–2001
(Photo: The Prince’s Regeneration Trust)

The breadth of heritage has motivated many
individuals and groups, in both amateur
and professional fields, to engage with the
aesthetic, artistic, and creative elements of our
buildings and monuments. The histories of
societies such as the Society for the Protection
of Ancient Buildings, the UK’s two national
trusts (with over four million members), and
numerous local antiquarian and heritage
groups, paint a picture of value for heritage in
all its forms, and reflect a desire to maintain
or enhance understanding of its distinctive
features into the future.

Conservation initiatives often arise
out of potential threat, whether it is access
to a location, imminent destruction of a
building, gradual neglect of something which
might otherwise be deemed to be an asset,
or the building being deemed no longer fit
for purpose. They may also arise as society
re-evaluates the value of a place or style of
building, perhaps as a result of a change
in fashion. Redundant buildings are often
the most challenging, but they can also be
the lynchpin of a successful regeneration
project, taking only a spark of inspiration
to find a new life which has heritage value
at its core, providing the unique selling
point. Recent examples of this are seen in
Urban Splash’s re-configuration of listed
(but unloved) blocks of flats in Sheffield at
Park Hill, creating a design-led regeneration
of degraded housing stock. Other examples
include the many projects undertaken by
organisations like the Prince’s Regeneration
Trust, such as the conversion of a large
cotton-mill complex at Stanley Mills on the
banks of the River Tay into residential units.

The close relationship between heritage
‘assets’ (objects, buildings, places or
landscapes) and their guardians (pressure
groups, movements and causes) is founded on
a recognition that this asset can do something
wonderful within society. That might sound
somewhat rose-tinted or idealistic, but time
and time again it rings true when interrogated
closely. Of particular note in the last couple
of years has been the advocacy undertaken by
the National Trust in response to the English
government’s draft National Planning Policy
Framework, billed as the ‘Planning for People’
campaign. This focused on the involvement
of local communities, encouraging them to
engage more fully with the planning process.
In particular, its child- and family-based
advocacy encouraged greater engagement
with outdoor recreation via its ‘50 things to do
before you’re 11¾’ programme.
But we must move beyond heritage as catalyst
to better articulate its value in society today.

HERITAGE VALUE

Although clear value can be seen in the
examples already mentioned, when heritage is
considered on a formal level in local planning
decisions, council funding directions, and
government policy and regulation, it has
inevitably to be de-personalised. On this
formal level it must be evaluated in a context
of competing concerns and assessed in terms
of what it can deliver for society.

Debates around value in recent years
have gathered momentum, and are seen in
heritage agencies’ policies and publications
as an underpinning for discussions
around significance. While necessary for a
maturing in heritage as both a discipline and
profession, the tenor of this discussion has
diverged slightly from a more instrumental
understanding in civil society decisionmaking
contexts (PPG15’s appendices for
example), and has drifted towards reestablishing
our fundamental conservation
philosophies and principles at a professional
level. An argument is not being made on
reductionist lines for a pure profit-and-loss
approach for heritage in the modern world but,
in England at least, the swinging weathervane
of political attention must be heeded.
Furthermore, if a minister for culture suggests
that a case has not been made, then a renewed
effort or change in language is required to
demonstrate what heritage does in society
now, and what it has the potential to do in
future. Conservationists must adopt a more
business-like approach to communicating its
message on value.

A Heritage Open Day at Wilton Windmill, Wiltshire (Photo: Susie Brew)

The evidence clearly exists: heritage
protection works and delivers outputs and
outcomes across a range of societal areas.
Practical education and work-based skills,
specialised heritage crafts experience,
and conservation-related skills are all
in demand, not only in the conservation
and refurbishment/renewal trades, but
also in the complex regeneration field and
throughout the wider building industry
itself. From conservation schemes within
individual historic properties, to wider-scale
conservation and maintenance of historic
estates (such as the maintenance of the
historic waterways in the care of the Canal
& River Trust), training pathways and skills
development are a feature of organisational
planning. Equally, training and skills form
a key agenda item for the professional
institutes within this sector, such as the
Institute of Historic Building Conservation,
the Institute for Archaeologists and Icon.
Allied to this, the Heritage Lottery Fund
has invested significant funds in individual
craft and heritage skills projects, as well
as larger strategic bursary schemes to
support careers within the heritage sector.

There is already a well-developed private
market in skills and competencies (as amply
illustrated by leafing through the pages of this
directory), and when heritage assets are fully
recognised for the role they can play within
the sustainable development agenda we can
expect to see an increasing need for education,
skills and services from the heritage sector.
Heritage businesses are already identified
within national business surveys and reported
as a specialised sector within national
statistics. Although growth in the sector has
been low due to the global economic climate,
the fact that an industrial sector can be clearly
identified means that we can begin to assess
the scale of value to the economy. This has
been considered by Scotland in its assessment
of the economic value of heritage (HEACS
report 2009, see further information) and
more recently by English Heritage as part of its
annual Heritage Counts survey, which focused
in 2012 on resilience. However, perhaps the
most detailed figures relating to the value of
heritage within the building and construction
industry have been collated by the National Heritage Training Group: this suggests that
over 100,000 people are already employed
within the sector to work on maintaining and
regenerating heritage buildings.

Within the wider education sector,
heritage sites and contexts provide rich
opportunities for learning, both inside and
outside the classroom, on a daily basis.
There is not a subject in the curriculum
which cannot use aspects of heritage in
demonstrating ideas or practical applications,
and schools benefit from diverse educational
resources provided by large and small
organisations on different types of site (from
understanding the structures of buildings
using physics to using the settings of historic
properties to generate creative artistic
responses or creative writing). Formal
education sees heritage at the heart of history,
art, archaeology, architecture and many other
subjects in secondary and tertiary education
environments, and subjects allied to heritage
remain popular with students. Academic
outputs (journal articles, reports, books, etc)
associated with heritage subjects continue
to grow year on year. The opportunities that
heritage provides as a glue which binds us
to locations in the world around us have farreaching
value for aspiration, inspiration and
creativity as part of the wider cultural sphere.

A conservator carries out masonry repairs at
Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire

One of the major values which is
accorded to the built heritage is through the
generation of tourism revenues from visits
to individual historic visitor attractions
and larger entities, characterised by their
historic buildings and streetscapes. Again,
there is a wealth of statistics and evaluation
of impacts from tourism, and yet there
continues to be a surprising amount of
distrust in the relationship between the
sectors. The heritage sector often considers
that tourism is exploitative and fails to
invest in the asset base, and that the tourism
experience and engagement with the visitor
is often undemanding, with visitors unable
to fully appreciate the cultural value of the
resource. Conversely, the tourism sector
considers the heritage sector to be far too
precious and purist about the management
and interpretation of its resource, and
un-businesslike in its operation.

This is perhaps taking some stereotypical
views to an extreme, but the tenor of these
views persists, despite heritage tourism being
one of the most successful growth markets
in the global economy, and Britain being
consistently in the top destination brands
for its cultural heritage offer. The heritage
tourism experience in Britain is generally
excellent, and soundly based on the important
work of the craftspeople and conservation
professionals who maintain the heritage fabric
of our buildings and places.

However, the industry cannot be
complacent: the visitor offer must compete in
a crowded and competitive market for leisure
time and spend from both global and domestic
consumers. The experience and service must
therefore be constantly enhanced, and therein
lies the tension between the areas. Regardless,
heritage, often through tourism-led initiatives
such as festivals or events, has clearly moved
into the realm of ‘lifestyle experience’, a fact
borne out by continued heritage society and
organisational membership, and the extension
of heritage as a theme into the branding of
consumer goods, foods and other products:
the appetite appears unabated.

This brings us back full circle to heritage
being very much a mainstream theme
within society and the way it behaves,
socially, politically and economically.
Wherever people are looking after and
engaging with the fabric of our heritage,
longer term outcomes and spin-off benefits
are emerging that the sector has really
only just begun to quantify, including
improvements in health and quality of life.

More could be said about developments
in technological approaches to heritage
preservation, maintenance and interpretation,
and the changing frameworks for managing
heritage as new models of management and
enterprise embed themselves in a fastchanging
economy, and as civil society takes
on more responsibility from what was once
expected as a public service function. More
too could be said of the divergent approaches
in policy between England and Scotland
towards heritage which are quickly emerging.
However, from the perspective of an academic
sitting in a university business school,
surveying the industry as a whole, the overriding
impression is that the heritage industry
has already emerged as a clearly defined sector
with business complexity and a varied set of
value propositions that start with the fabric
and reach far beyond.

Author

IAN BAXTER PhD FRSA FSA FSAScot
PIfA is the head of division of Tourism,
Heritage & Events at University Campus
Suffolk Business School. He has worked in
heritage management for 25 years, and
has contributed to the development of
the Heritage Counts and Scottish Heritage
Audit programmes as well as other policy
development initiatives in Scotland and
England. He is currently developing heritage
management as a strategic subject area for
UCS (see www.ucs.ac.uk/heritage).